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Fellowship of the Holy Fallout
| image = | imagewidth = 225px | aliases = Children of the Bomb | continuity = Planet of the Apes | type = | status = | leaders = Mendez XXVI | members = Adiposo; Albina; Caspay; Ongaro; Verger | allies = | enemies = Humanoid apes; John Brent; George Taylor | 1st appearance = Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) }} The Fellowship of the Holy Fallout is a fictional religious order featured in the Planet of the Apes multimedia franchise. They appeared in the 1970 film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, which was the second film in the original five-movie series. History The Fellowship of the Holy Fallout was a religious congregation of telepathic mutants who lived beneath the ruins of New York City in the latter half of the 40th century. Like their followers, the members of the Fellowship were descended from a long line of mutated humans, whose origins dated back to the late 20th century. Following an ape uprising in 1991, the human controlled governments of Earth waged war with one another – a war that devastated significant parts of the population, and caused drastic geological upheaval. Survivors of the nuclear holocaust were forced to seek shelter in the ruins of cities contaminated with atomic radiation. The exposure to this radiation caused severe genetic defects – defects which were passed down through the generations, forcing select groups of mankind to evolve into a new subspecies of mutant. Two-thousand years later, many of these mutant descendants began to develop advanced telepathic abilities. Whether these mental endowments were borne as a side-effect of their mutation is still a matter of speculation. By the late 40th century, a coalition of mutants established a settlement for themselves in the ruins of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. They had acquired a weapon of mass destruction – a surviving relic from Humanity’s downfall. This was a Doomsday device known as the Alpha-Omega Bomb. Declaring the weapon as the "Divine Bomb", this congregation of mutants became known as the Fellowship of the Holy Fallout. In their culture, the Alpha-Omega Bomb represented not only a unifying characteristic of their lifestyle, but of their origins as well. They believed that God spoke to them through the weapon. They placed the missile, as well as its accompanying launch controls, at the nave of their altar in the cathedral. On most occasions, the subterranean denizens of New York wore latex masks and wigs which concealed their physical mutations, but during liturgical services and Mass, it was customary to remove their masks while proclaiming in unison, "I reveal my Inmost Self unto my God." All elements of mutant culture revolved around devotion towards their religion. Followers wore stark, white, full-bodied uniforms, the design of which was patterned after the protective radiation suits worn by their ancestors. Even children were expected to behave in accordance to the tenants of their faith. A popular children's nursery rhyme, though seemingly innocent, invoked images of the nuclear horror that befell mankind centuries past. Although Beneath the Planet of the Apes featured an image of children playing together, the nursery rhyme that they sang was only included in the shooting script, and was not incorporated into the final cut of the film. The nursery rhyme is a re-imagined version of "Ring Around the Rosey". ::Ring-a-ring o'neutrons, ::A pocketful of positrons, ::A fission! A fission! ::We all fall down. The Fellowship and its followers were reclusive isolationists who shied away from the world above them. However, in 3978, a time-lost astronaut named George Taylor stumbled upon the Fellowship's underground society. The leaders of the Fellowship used their mental powers to interrogate him at length, from which they learned that a society of evolved apes had developed a community outside the ruins of New York City. After extracting as much information as they could from Taylor, they imprisoned him in one of their many dungeon cells. On occasion, the reigning council from Ape City would send gorilla scouts into the region (which they referred to as the Forbidden Zone), in search of evidence of human occupation. To protect themselves from inquiry, the members of the Fellowship used their telepathic powers to create massive illusions depicting scenes of graphic violence. In some cases they would craft the image of a great wall of flame; in others they would produce visions of apes being crucified and tortured. On one circumstance, they allowed a gorilla scout to enter the underground tunnels, where they placed him under an intense telepathic interrogation. Recognizing the aggressive prejudices of the apes, the Fellowship decided that apes were a threat to their existence and took elaborate measures to conceal themselves from further inspection. A short time later, another astronaut named John Brent and a mute human named Nova followed Taylor's trail into the Forbidden Zone. Beneath the Planet of the Apes gives the year as 3955, however this is inconsistent with the timeline provided in the first film. The Fellowship of the Holy Fallout captured them, and used the same mental torture techniques against Brent and Nova that they had used upon Taylor. They even manipulated Brent into turning on Nova, forcing him to choke her nearly to the point of death. After gleaning any information of value from him, they placed Brent into the same cell as Colonel Taylor. A guard named Ongaro watched over the prisoners and used his mental powers to make them fight against one another. In keeping with the structure of their own Holy doctrine, Ongaro iterated the fact that the members of the Fellowship do not actually kill their enemies, but rather, they force their enemies to kill each other. Brent and Taylor managed to break free of the mind control however, and killed Ongaro while escaping from their cell. At the same time, a gorilla military leader named General Ursus led an invasion party into the Forbidden City to route out and exterminate all human occupants. They found the Fellowship’s cathedral and proceeded to execute as many mutants as they could find. Mendez and Caspay were shot down in cold blood, while Albina preferred to end her own life rather than suffer the fury of a military onslaught. Moments after the last of the Fellowship had been executed, George Taylor, dying from a gunshot wound fell upon the launch controls of the Alpha-Omega Bomb. The device was activated and the resulting explosion destroyed the entire world. Psychic Abilities Members of the Fellowship of the Holy Fallout (notably the Inquisitors) possessed a wide variety of psychic abilities. These powers included the ability to communicate telepathically with their fellow mutants, as well as other humans. They employed these powers for a variety of effects, which the Fellowship referred to as "Weapons of Peace". The most common of these abilities was a process known as the Visual Deterrent. This reflected a mutant's ability to create elaborate and convincing illusions designed to confound or in some cases ensnare unsuspecting prey. The Fellowship used the Visual Deterrent to trap the time-lost astronaut George Taylor. They later used the power to much broader effect in the hopes of warding off an encroaching ape army. Accompanying the Visual Deterrent was a practice known as the Sonic Deterrent. Using this technique, a mutant could generate a piercing sonic hum in a target's mind – the intent of which was ultimately to drive the victim insane. The most intrusive and devastating tactic however, was a practice called Traumatic Hypnosis. Using this ability, a mutant could control another person's mind, forcing them to act in contrast to their own nature – even violently. Known Members * Mendez XXVI * Adiposo * Albina * Caspay * Ongaro * Verger Notes * In Beneath the Planet of the Apes, the character of Mendez XXVI is credited only as "Mendez". The Beneath the Planet of the Apes (novelization) indicates that he is the twenty-sixth Mendez in a line of succession (presumably) extending back to the mutant Mendez I from Battle for the Planet of the Apes. * Natalie Trundy, who played the mutant Albina, returned to the franchise first as Stephanie Branton in Escape from the Planet of the Apes, then as the chimpanzee Lisa for Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. * Actor Don Pedro Colley is credited only as "Negro" in the closing credits of the film. Colley's official web-site lists his character's name as Ongaro The Official Don Pedro Colley Website * In order to create the effect of a human being mutated through exposure to radiation, make-up artist John Chambers examined photographs of corpses where the outer dermal layer of skin had been removed. After sifting through other, more graphic potential mutant designs, he decided upon using these photographs for the basis of his mutant make-up. Behind the Planet of the Apes; 20th Century Fox, 1998 * Originally the music for the Fellowship's liturgy was to be composed by Jerry Goldsmith, who scored the music for the first Planet of the Apes film, but POTA director Frank Shaffner convinced the studio heads at Twentieth Century Fox to pull Goldsmith from the project in favor of having him score Shaffner's then current film project, Patton. Goldsmith was ultimately replaced with composer Leonard Rosenman. John O'Callaghan; "The Great Apes Score Debate", Film Score Monthly * All of the elder members of the Fellowship of the Holy Fallout wore liturgical vestments, which were color-coordinated with the visual effects of their thought projection abilities. :* Mendez XXVI - Purple :* Ongaro - Yellow :* Caspay - Turquoise :* Fat Man - Red :* Albina - Blue See also External Links * References ----